CHAPTER 23

JAN, MONSTER, AND OLSON met the morning of July 4, a Wednesday, four days after they sabotaged the Medicine Wheel relay site.  They met in the sheriff’s office, coffee and donuts on the desk, along with Monster’s feet in size fourteen boots.  Olson looked cool in a dark blue suit and narrow tie.  Jan wore a Hawaiian shirt Ginny had given him, the shirt hanging over faded Wrangler jeans.

“I hadn’t planned to bother you today, Jan,” Olson said.  “I understand both you and John have plans for tonight.  How is Melissa anyway, John?”

Monster waved the question off.  “Let’s just say she survived Campbell, Saturday night.  But, the word ‘survive’ is up for discussion.”

“Well, anyway,” Olson said.  “The data from the Medicine Wheel has been devastating for Hansen.  Things are moving fast.  Up until this morning Washington has been receiving a live data feed.  As of this morning, we have collected enough evidence to mount a RICO case against Hansen.  The information coming from the Danites through the Medicine Wheel station is fascinating.  Hansen’s penchant for record keeping has given us more info than we could have hoped for.  We should be able to get some convictions for racketeering.”

“Racketeering?” Jan said raising an eyebrow.  “Should be able?”

Olson returned his gaze.  “Jan, with these things there is never a certainty of conviction.  At the very least we will keep him busy in court for the next three years if we bust him now.  And, yes, we should be able to get a conviction.  I supplied the feed to Washington and they received it without requiring me to divulge how the interception of his information was accomplished—for now at least.  I told them I had been tipped off by an anonymous source to erect an antenna on the courthouse and prepare to receive.  I told them I did not know who was supplying the information to us but its content will be easily verifiable by the FBI and Treasury Department.  I have hinted to the suits in Washington that our source is a disgruntled disciple within the compound.  I think they buy it.”

Jan spoke.  “A possible racketeering conviction is not good enough.  No way I have come all this way for that.”

Olson looked at Monster, who smiled back at him.

“What did I tell ya?” Monster said.

Jan continued.  “George, keeping Hansen busy in court is not good enough.  If we haven’t got enough to put him away for life then we should wait.”

“We can’t wait,” Monster said.

“And why not?” Jan asked.

Olson spoke.  “Because this morning all transmission stopped.”

“What?  What do you mean?” 

Olson said, “I can only assume Hansen found out he had been compromised.  He must have discovered the antenna.”

“Great!” Jan said.

“So,” Olson continued, “We have what we have.  I think we gotta move quickly.”  He paused.  “And, I also think Hansen will uproot soon and head for South America.”

“It isn’t that easy,” Jan said.  “He has several hundred people and lots of hardware to move.”

“Well,” Olson said, “Maybe he has thought of that.”

“I get the impression there is something you are not telling me, George,” Jan said.

Olson cleared his throat and looked out the window of the sheriff’s office.

“John, I think I will let you take it from here.”

“Sure, amigo.  Well,” he said turning to Jan, “we have an informant.”

“No kidding?”

“Yeah, he is nearby.  I’m going to have you meet him in a minute.”

“He’s here?”

“Yeah, he is.  In the next room.  Anyway, he tells us that Hansen has the compound loaded with ammonium nitrate bomb material.  Almost every building is a storehouse.  Our informant thinks the compound is being wired so it can be completely destroyed in an instant”

“Come on!” Jan said.  “That’s insane!”

Olson looked coolly at him.  “Yes it is, Jan.”

Jan stared at him.  He shook his head.

“You are telling me,” he said, “that Ronnie Hansen would blow up the whole compound and every man, woman, and child in it?”

Olson looked evenly at him.  “If he thinks he is about to be taken into custody, yes, it is a possibility.  That’s why I have decided not to try and get a search warrant based on our informant’s testimony.  I think if we roll up to the compound in vans, Hansen may trigger the ammonium nitrate.

“Look,” Jan said, “This is too crazy, even for Hansen.  I went to school with this guy for heaven’s sake!  He grew up here.  He…”

“Jan!” Monster said.  “C’mon, bro, grow up.  What’s the matter with you?  You ever hear of Jonestown?  Ever hear of Marshall Applewhite?  Hansen doesn’t think he would be killing his people, he would simply be giving them an easy ticket to the celestial kingdom.”

Jan sat down heavily in a chair.  Was Hansen actually capable of such an act?  Had Jan initiated a chain reaction?  He felt as if an atomic reactor had just gone critical and there were no control rods.  They were headed for a meltdown.

“So what do we do?” he asked Olson.

“You know what?” Olson said, “I’m almost out of the game now.  This situation is in red alert in Washington.  My life as a private mercenary is nearly over.  Don’t get me wrong,I’m in for a pound as well as a penny.”

Looking at Monster, Olson continued, “Our brilliant commando colleague, the sheriff, has an idea I am very uncomfortable with, but I want you to hear it at least.  My career is over even if I survive this.  If I’m not drummed out after this operation, I’ll retire.”

Jan turned to Monster.  “Well?  Let’s hear it.”

“OK, buddy, here it is.  We don’t have much time.  No more than two, three days.  If we don’t do something, Olson says Washington will probably act by Monday or Tuesday.  And, as you heard him say, that could be Armageddon.  So what are our options?  We have started the doomsday clock, so to speak.  We can’t disarm it and we can’t allow the Feds to bumble this—no disrespect to George.” 

Olson made a small dismissive motion with his hand.

“So, I guess we are on the horns of one of Melissa’s dilemmas.  I don’t think that either you or Olson are up for cold-blooded assassination, so I have put on my enormous thinking cap and, with George’s help, I have come up with a plan I want to run by you.”

Jan chewed on his lip.  “Go on.”

“OK.  What would you say to a plan that forced Hansen to the compound, his church, and everything?  To put him completely out of business for, say, ten years?”

“Elaborate on that.”

“Well, what are we really looking for?  We want to save the innocents at the compound.  We want to remove Hansen as a risk to you, and others, including Melissa.  So if he disappeared for ten years…”

“Well, just how the heck is that possible?”

“It’s cute.  Real cute.”  Monster gestured to Olson.  “George, here, has deep cover contacts in Iran.  Underground Iranian resistance owes him some big favors.  Bottom line?  He can find a secure home for brother Hansen behind twelve-foot walls.  He wouldn’t live in comfort, but he wouldn’t be abused.  He would be confined.  And ten years from now after his organization is totally dead, probably divided up among a dozen other rival sects, he walks out of the desert.”

“Wouldn’t he just blow the whistle on all us you—all of us?” 

“By then, we have broadcast his crimes to the entire world.  His followers are no more.  We will have reconstructed the historical record of Ronnie Hansen.  He wouldn’t so much as get a return call from any government official.   And, of course, there is always the chance that he will find a new life in the Arabian desert and get some new revelations and yada yada yada.”

Jan tapped his finger on his lower lip.  “How do you propose to get him there?”

“We convince him.  And, he goes alone.  He abandons all of his wives and kids,” Monster said chewing on an unlit Pall Mall.

“What in heaven’s name would persuade him to do that?”

“Fear for his life?”

“You know that wouldn’t do it,” Jan said.  “He’d let us rip his eyes out before he’d go willingly into captivity.”

“Aha!” Monster said.  “Now you’re talkin’!”  Monster smiled, then continued, “No, if we can get him in our custody and present him with a life and death choice, maybe he’ll be smart.”

“And if he isn’t, what do we do, execute him?”

Monster raised his eyebrows.  “Works for me.  But, of course, we won’t know about you until you are faced with that decision.  I reference my earlier arguments.  However, I believe that a convincing enough bluff could get his attention.  And that, Jan, is where all your philosophical meanderings may help us.”  Monster smiled.

“I’m listening, John.”

“Well, sir, I see it this way.  Hansen would never put himself in my hands.  Not for an instant.  Even if he saw no way out, he would escape or die, never negotiate.  That is because—a testament to his penetrating insight—he doesn’t trust me.  He knows if I get him in cuffs in a cruiser, he’ll never get to this office alive.

“But you Jan—because of your misplaced fascination with fairness—you might cause him to become reckless.  If we could get him backed into an inescapable corner with absolutely no way out, he might negotiate with you.”

Jan chewed on his cheek.  He inhaled sharply and closed his eyes.  Finally he spoke.  “I think this is crazy.  But, frankly, I can’t think of anything else.  We gotta stop this guy.  Who knows, maybe there will be no way out and we will actually bury him in Dead Horse Gulch.”

“Dang!” Monster said.  “You sure you ain’t readin’ my mind?  Dead Horse is exactly the place I want to have the showdown!”

“OK, John, give me the complete dog and pony show.  How do we put this all together?  How can we draw him into a corner with no windows?”

“George?” Monster said, looking at Olson.

George Olson walked over to the doorway of the storage area and opened it.  Hoyt Akers stepped into the room.  He had a two-day growth of beard and looked like he hadn’t slept recently.  His eyes were red and watery.  Jan looked at him apprehensively.

“Hoyt,” Monster said, “meet Jan Kucera.  Jan, Hoyt Akers.”

Akers nodded, but did not speak.

“Jan,” Monster continued.  “Mr. Akers, here, flies the Prophet’s helicopter and his jet.  Akers is the man who told us that the compound is a powder keg.  And he has also told us that he thinks the Prophet is considering fleeing to Argentina.  Finally, he told us that the Prophet has ordered him to be ready to fly to Jackson Hole on Saturday.”

Akers continued to stand silently before the men.  His face was an impassive mask.  He never blinked his eyes.  Jan thought of Steve Forbes, the publisher and one-time unblinking presidential candidate.

“Mr. Akers,” Jan said, “can I ask you why you are willing to assist us?”

“Let’s say I have my reasons and leave it at that.”

Jan sat in silence.  He looked at the floor, ran his hands through his hair, and shook his head.

“John, give me the rest of the plan, please.”

“Certainly!” Monster said.  “But first let me say that I think we can trust Mr. Akers.  I have known him for a long time.  We’ve never been friendly, but I can say he has a reputation for honesty and loyalty.  I don’t know what has turned that loyalty, but I have an idea.

“Nevertheless, Hoyt is not only the chopper pilot; he maintains and services the aircraft as well.  So when he came to us, I asked myself, ‘John, how could we use Hoyt to deliver Hansen to us?’  I came up with this idea.”

Monster lit his cigarette with a gold Zippo.  “Let’s say we get Hoyt to plant some plastic explosives in the chopper.  We wire it up like a remotely operated bomb.  Then when he gets Hansen in the air, we radio him to land the chopper at Dead Horse Gulch.  If he refuses, we tell him we will blow him out of the air.”

“But, John, we can’t do that.  What about Akers?  This is crazy…”

“Hang on, boy, hang on.  Yeah, I knew you wouldn’t go for actually wiring him to explosives.  But he doesn’t know that.  If we can get him landed in the Dead Horse Gulch, he is in our custody.  And, I think we should land him in the gulch on his return trip from Jackson Hole.  As I understand it, Hoyt thinks they will be coming home around 8:00 p.m.”

“Let me get this straight,” Jan said.  “We plant the explosives—or we pretend to plant the explosives.  When he flies back over Basin after going to Jackson, we radio the chopper.  Akers puts Hansen on the radio with us and we demand he set down in Dead Horse or we push the button.  He lands, then we take him into custody and ship him to Iran?  You’re kidding, right?” Jan paused.  “Man! What a world we live in.  Am I in Disneyland or have I fallen down a rabbit hole?”

“Well, kimo sabe, you already confessed that you don’t have a better idea,” Monster said, exhaling a cloud of smoke.